Separable pulley-block.



J. K. VOORHEES & V. V. SPEER.

- SBPARABLE PULLEY BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED P113. 6, 1908.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

WITNESSES:

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omen srans PATENT OFFTCE.

JOHN K. VOORHEES, OF CEDAR FALLS, AND VICTOR V. SPEER, OF CEDAR FALLS TOWN- SHIP, IOWA.

SEPARABLE PULLEY-BLOCK.

Application filed. February 6, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J OHN K. Voom-inns and Vision V. Srnnn, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Cedar Falls, Blackhawk county, Iowa, and of Cedar Falls township, Blackhawk county, Iowa, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in separable Pulley-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in separable pulley-blocks, and the object of our improvements is to provide a block for a pulley which may be easily spread apart in order to thereby release a cable therefrom, and as easily assembled together when a cable has been inserted therein, and also adapted to be disassembled by other means auto matically when it is desired to release a cable therefrom at a predetermined time and place. This object we have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved separable pulley-block, showing it closed and a cable reeved through it having attached means for automatically tripping and separating the movable parts of the block. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said block, with its parts closed together. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of said block, showing the parts separated. Fig. l is an upper plan view of a portion of the block. the pulley a housing being removed. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the pulley and its housing plate as detached from the other parts of the block.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The ring at of the block may be secured to any fixed object at or near the place where it is desired to automatically'trip the parts of the block to release the cable '1' therefrom. Said ring is swiveled to the bend of a plate m whose parallel members are connected by means of bolts Z and s, the former serving as a pivot for the cylindrical bearing-end of the bent plate or catch (Z, and the latter be ing used as a pivot for the cylindrical bear ing end o of the bent plate or pulley housing 0. The members of the bent. plate or housing a are arranged in parallel, with the pintles b of a pulley a seated in bearing openings therein. The plate 0, when released from the catch (Z falls back under the plate m as shown in Fig. 3. However, when the plate 0 is brought up to the position shown in F 2, the end of its upper and longer member, which is slightly narrowed and downturned, may be engaged by the inwardly bent end of the catch cl, the latter having its end either bent or beveled to form an inner angle of more than ninety degrees in order to facilitate the sliding of the sli htly downwardly bent or beveled end of the upper member of the plate 0 therefrom, or in other words, to cause the catch to disengage from said plate 0 more readily without binding or cramping, when the hook of the arm 0 is disengaged from said catch.

The reversible hooked catch 6 is in the form of a medially pivoted arm, a bearing seat thereon being provided by the attached plate 27, in which the upwardly directed pintle of a bracket f, is received, the bracket as well as a like bracket to which it may be transferred for left-hand use, on the other side of the block, being secured to the bent plate on by bolts 71; as well as the long pivot-bolt s. A washer g and split-key it above it serve to detachably secure the parts f and 2' together. A removable coiled tension-spring a is connected between the hooked end of the arm 6 from an orifice 0 of the latter and the upturned projection of the bracket f on either the left-hand or right-hand side of the block, for either direction of diversion of the cable I. The hook of the arm 0 is adapted to engage the catch cl when the latter is in engagement with the end of the longer member of the bent plate 0, to hold said catch and plate in secure connection, aided by the tension of the spring u.

The parts of the block may be easily separated by hand in order to reeve a cable 1" therein, by tripping the arm 0 so that its hook releases the catch (Z from the end of the upper member of the bent plate a, when the catch (Z will fall back and the plate 0 with its pulley a may be thrown over so as to give room to admit the cable adjacent to the concaved inner end of said arm 6. The plate 0 is then thrown back and the catch d engaged over it, and the latter secured by the hooked arm (2.

lVhen it is desired to have the cable 1 automatically release itself from the block at a predetermined time or place, we adopt the following means to successfully efiect that object. A ring or other suitable projection 32 is secured to the cable 1' at the proper loca tion, so that when the cable is run through the blo k its ri g 12 will c ntact with the inner concaved end of the arm 6 and force the concaved end inward. This causes the outer hooked end of the arm 6 to move out ward, thus releasing the catch (Z, the latter falling by gravity, and disengaging the end of the upper member of the bent plate 0. The draft of the cable on the pulley a then throws over the plate 0, so that it drops under the bent plate m, and the cable falls from the block, thus automatically freeing itself at the time and place desired. This form of pulley may be used in various situations for automatic dumping, or in changing the draft of a cable from a straight line to vary its direction and then release it when the article hauled comes into the direct straight line of draft.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A separable pulley-block, composed in combination, of a frame, an open-ended housing containing a rotatable sheave, said housing being hinged to said frame, a catch pivoted to said frame and adapted to engage said pulley-housing to secure it in its closed position against the frame, and interchangeable resilient means transferable from one side of the block to the other, for releasablysecuring said catch in its engaged position with said housing.

2. A separable pulley-block, composed in combination, of a frame, a housing contain ing a rotatable sheave hinged to said frame and having a projecting plate on the side of the sheave opposite to its hinge, a clip pivoted to saidframe and having a bent end adapted to engage said projecting plate to secure said housing to said frame in its closed position, a medially pivoted lever, one end of which is concaved and set facing said sheave and spaced apart therefrom, the other end of said lever being bent to detachably engage the said clip to hold the latter engaged with the projecting plate, and a spring connected between said frame and the said pivoted lever and adapted to hold the bent end of the latter in engagement with the said clip.

3. An automatically-separable pulleyblock, composed in combination, of a frame, an open-ended housing containing a rotatable sheave, said housing being hinged to said frame, a clip pivoted to said frame and adapted to engage said pulley-housing to secure it in its closed position against the frame, interchangeable resilient means transferable from one side of the block to the other, for releasably securing said clip in its engaged position with said housing, a cable reeved within said block to move over said sheave, said cable having a catch secured thereon adapted to contact with and detach said resilient securing means from the said clip to permit the said housing to be pushed over to release the cable therefrom.

4. An automatically-separable pulleyblock, composed in combination, of a frame, a housing containing a rotatable sheave hinged to said frame and having a project ing plate on the side of the sheave opposite to its hinge, a clip pivoted to said frame and having a bent end adapted to engage said projecting plate to secure said housing to said frame in its closed position, a mediallypivoted lever, one end of which is concaved and set facing said sheave and spaced apart therefrom, the other end of said lever being bent to detachably engage the said clip to hold the latter engaged with the projecting plate, a spring connected between said frame and the said pivoted lever and adapted to hold the bent end of the latter in engagement with the said clip, a cable reeved within said block to move over said sheave, said cable having a catch secured thereon adapted to contact with and detach said pivoted lever from said clip to permit the said housing to be pushed over by the .cables strain upon it to release the cable therefrom.

5. An automatically-separable pulleyblock, composed in combination, of a frame, a housing containing a rotatable sheave hinged to said frame and having a projecting plate on the side of the sheave opposite to its hinge, a clip pivoted to said frame and having a bent end adapted to engage said projecting plate to secure said housing to said frame in its closed position, a reversible medially-pivoted lever one end of which is bent to detachably engage the said clip to hold the latter engaged with the said pro jecting plate, bracketed pintles on both the right and left-hand members of said frame adapted to removably fulcrum said medially-pivoted lever, a cable removably reeved within said block to run over said sheave, and means for breaking the engagement of the medially-pivoted lever with said clip to release the latter from said projecting plate and cause the parts of said block to swing on their hinge to throw out said cable therefrom.

Signed at \Vaterloo. Iowa, this 25th day of Jan. 1908.

JOHN K. VOORHEES, VICTOR v. srnnn.

Witnesses O. D, YOUNG, G. G. KENNEDY. 

